The brutally oppressed people of West Papua continue to mount protests despite severe repression by Indonesian occupiers.
“Indonesia has previously warned Pacific Island countries not to interfere in issues relating to West Papua.”
The 79 member states of the Africa Caribbean Pacific (ACP) group are seeking international action over human rights abuses in West Papua.
A resolution was passed by the group at its 9th ACP Summit of Heads of State and Government, calling for urgent attention to be paid to the rights situation in Indonesia-ruled Papua region.
The resolution supports and adds significant diplomatic weight to a resolution passed by the Pacific Islands Forum in August this year.
Among other things, ACP states called for an international mission to visit Papua and provide an evidence-based, informed report on the human rights situation there.
This report should be submitted to the Pacific Forum in time for its next annual leaders summit in July next year, they said.
The ACP resolution, of which Vanuatu was a key driver, seeks for the Papua human rights situation to be a standing item on the agenda of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
In August, Pacific countries called on Indonesia to allow the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s office access to Papua region.
Indonesia’s government said it had extended an invitation to the UN Commissioner’s office, and that discussions on the matter were ongoing.
“The resolution seeks to put the Papua human rights situation on the agenda of the United Nations Human Rights Council.”
But Pacific Island countries voiced concern that the invitation had not materialized in a visit, despite the Commissioner’s office having sought access to Papua for years.
The ACP’s resolution, which was endorsed unanimously by all ACP members at the summit that concluded at the weekend in Kenya, calls on all concerned parties to:
a) Conduct a mission to West Papua and provide an evidence-based, informed report on the human rights situation before the next meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders in July 2020;
b) Allow international media access to West Papua to provide independent coverage on the human rights situation ahead of the next meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders in July 2020;
c) Work together to address the root causes of the conflict in West Papua by peaceful means, and protect and uphold the human rights of all residents in West Papua; and
d) Seek to include the human rights situation in West Papua as a standing item on the agenda of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Indonesia’s government has previously warned Pacific Island countries not to interfere in issues relating to West Papua, referring to it as a domestic matter.
But the administration of Joko Widodo continues to face criticism from international human rights groups over ongoing arrests of West Papuan expressing their independence aspirations.
Widespread pro-independence and anti-racism protests which broke out across the Papuan provinces in August and September prompted an increased security forces deloyment to the region by Indonesia.
Amid the security crackdown, and blocking of internet, some of the protests descended into violent unrest, which left dozens of people dead.
This article previously appeared on the West Papua Action Network.
Papuans Demand Prosecution in the 2014 Paniai Massacre
by Peoples Dispatch
“The provinces of Papua and West Papua have witnessed massive unrest since August.”
Students and activists in Papua and West Papua took to the streets on December 7, Saturday, to demand the prosecution of officials accused in the five-year-old Paniai mass shooting case. On December 7, 2014, Indonesian security personnel opened fired at a protest rally in Paniai, killing five Papuans.
The protesters demanded that the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, deliver on his election promise to resolve the Paniai case. Widodo had promised justice to the Papuan people at a Christmas celebration held in Paniai shortly after the massacre, shortly after he was elected as president. However, five years hence, little progress has been made in the case.
Ambrosius Klangit, who coordinated the demonstrations that were held on the fifth anniversary of the massacre, told the media that prosecution proceedings have not begun against any of the officials accused in the case. As per Jakarta Post, he blamed the Widodo government for being responsible for greater human rights violations in the Papuan territories since the Paniai massacre.
Protesters on the streets chanted “Papua doesn’t need more security, Papua needs Justice,” pointing to the increasing militarization of the region, with the government deploying hundreds of security personnel amid the long-brewing unrest.
“Prosecution proceedings have not begun against any of the officials accused in the case.”
The provinces of Papua and West Papua have witnessed massive unrest since August, following the racist attacks and police repression against Papuans in the mainland regions of Indonesia in the days leading up to the Indonesian independence day on August 17. Hundreds of Papuans were arrested and state violence led to the death of at least two dozen people. Over 10,000 people were displaced.
In the latest round of repression, 110 Papuans were arrested following the annual demonstrations for the Papuan Independence Day and for raising the Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuan nationalism. Papuans have historically commemorated December 1 as their Independence Day to commemorate the beginning of Free Papuan Movement or OPM in the early 1960s. The arrests began on December 1 and have continued since.
According to exiled human rights advocate Veronica Koman, most of the arrests have taken place in Fakfak and the provincial capital, Jayapura. The police have charged at least 20 of those arrested with treason, which carries a life sentence. The majority of those arrested are students.
This article previously appeared in Peoples Dispatch.
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